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Agence France-Presse  May 22, 2007 BANGUI, Central African Republic -- Talks have begun on releasing some 400 child soldiers serving with former rebels in the Central African Republic (CAR) and returning them to civilian life, the United Nations (UN) children’s agency Unicef said. A statement said negotiations had started "with non-state armed groups for hundreds of child soldiers enrolled in the north-east of the Central African Republic (CAR) to be released and returned to their families." There are an estimated 250,000 child soldiers fighting in 12 countries worldwide, mainly in Africa and Asia, with some countries deploying children "on a massive scale", according to the UN. Since 2001, almost 95,000 have been demobilised including in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Afghanistan. The former rebel chief in CAR, Damane Zakaria, had "agreed on releasing some 400 children," Unicef said. "A first list of 220 child soldiers has been given to Unicef." Zakaria, commanding the Union of Democratic Forces for Unity (UFDR) in CAR which lies between Cameroon and Sudan, also said armed youngsters aged between 13 and 17 would be released. "More than 400 children will be demobilised," he told AFP by phone. Zakaria signed a peace accord with the government on April 13. "The children are still with us," he said, without indicating when they would be handed over. Unicef said it would start talks with the government on procedures for demobilising the youngsters and returning them to civilian life. Negotiations would "study the feasibility of a release agreement after the UFDR has agreed to sign a final commitment in the coming weeks." The peace accord foresaw integrating UFDR rebels either into government armed forces or back into civilian life, but made no mention of child soldiers. The UFDR, which surfaced late last year and temporarily occupied communities in the north-east, was one of President Francois Bozize’s main enemies before the peace accord was reached. The announcement followed one on May 9 that the government of neighbouring Chad to the north and Unicef had signed an accord to end the practice of minors being recruited into the country’s army. Last February 6, 58 countries agreed at a UN-organised conference in Paris to take action to protect children from being recruited as soldiers. They included 10 of 12 nations where an estimated 250,000 children bear arms. Among the signatories were Burundi, Chad, Colombia, Ivory Coast, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nepal, Somalia, Sudan, Sri Lanka and Uganda, all on a UN black list of countries recruiting child soldiers. Two others on the UN list - Myanmar and the Philippines - did not attend the conference. URL: story url
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